State to investigate fires on Beaufort County school buses

The S.C. Department of Education is assembling a team to investigate why Beaufort County has been the site of half of the state’s school bus fires so far in 2015-2016.

A group of Columbia transportation officials and state staff in Beaufort’s school bus maintenance shop will conduct a thorough review of records from the four bus fires that have occurred in Beaufort County since Sept. 1, including two last month, said agency spokesman Dino Teppara. He did not know when the review will be completed, and said the state has not yet determined the causes of those fires.

The are:

• A March 30 bus fire that started after its driver finished dropping off students and parked the empty bus at Robert Smalls International Academy. The 1988 model was a total loss.
• A March 16 bus engine fire that started while a bus was transporting students from Whale Branch Middle School. The 1995 model bus was also a total loss.
• A Jan. 19 incident when a bus filled with smoke, causing 25 Beaufort High School students to evacuate on St. Helena Island. That bus, also a 1988 model, was repaired.
• A Sept. 1 engine fire that spread through an empty, parked bus outside the Beaufort-Jasper Academy for Career Excellence. The 1995 model was a total loss.

The county has seen only two other school bus fires since 2008.

Statewide, there have been eight school incidents of smoke and fire this school year on buses in South Carolina’s aging, state-owned fleet, more than half of which are at least 15 years old. No one has been injured, though the incidents will cost thousands of dollars in repairs and replacements.

The state review also comes as The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is contracting its first analysis of school bus fires — due in August — to identify ways to prevent, reduce or mitigate the fires and potentially improve upon inspection practices. In the past, the agency’s periodic reviews only covered motor coach buses, which are built and used much differently than school buses.

Age could be a big factor in South Carolina. Last year, the S.C. Department of Education requested $34 million to replace one-fifteenth of its fleet, as recommended by state law, and received only $30.9 million. Older buses experience more frequent breakdowns, some of which spark the fires that render them useless.

“We’ll be interested in seeing the results of the review,” Beaufort County School District spokesman Jim Foster said. “A bus is the safest way for kids to get to and from school, but as the state’s fleet continues to age, those buses are becoming increasingly unreliable and increasingly difficult to maintain.”

Beaufort County and Charleston County are the only districts in the state to pay a contractor, Durham School Services, to supplement their local fleets with extra buses, which are 4-years-old on average. Earlier this month, Beaufort County school board voted to end its contract with Durham and lease up to 41 new buses next year to augment the nearly 150 it generally receives from the state.

As is, the state buses undergo a battery of required inspections and maintenance meant to prevent problems, including monthly checks of fluid levels, tires and brakes and yearly comprehensive maintenance work.

Still, fires start six to eight times each year on state buses, Teppara said.

So far in 2015-2016, the state has spent about $2,500 on parts to repair buses that have caught fire — a one-to-two month process — and has discarded another five buses that sustained too much heat damage to their frames, bodies or interiors, according to the spokesman. It would cost $425,000 to replace all of those total losses, though their total value had dwindled to just $11,500, he said.

“The SCDE, as always, takes each of these incidents seriously and will continue to thoroughly inspect buses, as well as train technicians, to ensure that we are doing everything possible to prevent future incidents,” Teppara said.

Fires typically start due to electrical, fuel, brake, tire or turbocharger problems. Some are sparked by malfunctions, such as a hang up with the starter, engine failure or a ruptured hose, while others result from human error, such as operating a bus with the parking brake on or with a flat tire.

Fortunately, he added, bus fires are not typically dangerous.

“Almost all bus fires give ample warning by means of smoke, poor operational characteristics such as low power, sluggish, electrical gauges out of range and warning devices alerting the operator,” Teppara said.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "State to investigate fires on Beaufort County school buses."